Love Triangles in High School are More Confusing than a 9x9 Rubix Cube
by then00b12
Summary: 3Z Class Setting. Who knew Confessions of Love can be so difficult? Kondo x Otsu x Shinpachi x Kirara


The halls of Gintama High bustled with life, echoing the chitter chatter of students and teachers alike. What's the most recent fashion trend? Who is the cutest couple right now? These questions lit up the tiled floors of the high school. Among all the talking students, walked a calm, collected gentleman by the name of Shimura Shinpachi. Bowl cut hair and wearing his trademark glasses, he walked through the halls, ignoring side conversations between students and avoiding the crowd of people that congest the passageways through the school.

Shinpachi was looking forward to one of his most favorite events during the dreadful, homework packed days that consumed so much of his life. He was going to meet up with Terakado Otsu, a childhood friend, lead singer on the school choir, future pop star, and the girl of his dreams. They had been best friends forever, growing up in the same neighborhood, him supporting her dream of becoming a singer in the music industry. She was his anchor in the storming winds that kept his ship afloat from straying away when he dealt with the pressures of high school. Seeing her smile everyday lit up his Earth like the sun does every morning, this is what Otsu is to him.

"Shinpachi-kun," a timid voice came from behind Shinpachi as he was about to turn a corner in the hallway. Shinpachi turned around to see a maroon, brown haired girl wearing glasses.

"Kirara-chan?" Shinpachi answered her. "What's up?"

"Um…" Kirara couldn't find the words to talk to Shinpachi. She avoided eye contact with him, her breathing heavy, her face red, clutching her textbook closely to her chest. She wanted very much to tell him how she felt about him, but her withdrawn personality shook the confidence that she built up earlier to confess to him.

"How are you doing?" Kirara let out loudly. She closed her eyes as she prepared for an imminent doom.

"Not bad, how about you, Kirara?" Shinpachi answered.

"I'm, I-I'm good!" Kirara stuttered.

Shinpachi sensed the awkwardness building up as the interaction between them endured longer. Usually, they chatted regularly and well without such tension, but something must be bothering Kirara. He saw her hold her Literature textbook close to her chest and decided to make it into a conversation.

"How's Literature class going for you, Kirara?" Shinpachi asked.

"Um…very good! I-I'm passing the class!" Kirara responded hesitantly.

"That's good to hear," Shinpachi put his left hand behind his head and laughed.

Kirara felt at ease when she saw his smile and heard his laughter, a soothing feeling that overtook her soul and calmed her through the mightiest of all storms.

"I'll see you around then," Shinpachi finished the conversation as he bowed and walked away.

Kirara nodded and could only muster up a wave of her hand to send Shinpachi off. She watched him walk away and eventually get consumed by a crowd of students. Kirara sighed and pounded her forehead with her textbook. _Why can't I tell him, darn it! _She opened up the cover of her textbook and took out a sealed mail envelope.

This was supposed to be the backup plan, the Plan B, if I didn't have the courage to tell him in person. I was supposed to give him this letter that confessed my feelings, but I failed. Kirara lowered her head in shame as she walked the opposite direction of Shinpachi.

Shinpachi saw Otsu, chatting amongst her female friends, pleasantly smiling. Her purple hair always stood out in the crowd, her smile always brightening the darkness of life that consumed Shinpachi, this was what Otsu meant to him. Shinpachi was going to walk up to Otsu, greet her with a smile and they would hug as friends, a quotidian event. But something stopped Shinpachi today, an event not common occurred.

Shinpachi watched as Otsu's friends scattered as the appearance of a male student approached Otsu. Isao Kondo, Captain of the Gintama High Baseball team, nervously approached Otsu. He was nervous, Shinpachi could tell, because he was sweaty all over his forehead, unsure in his movement towards Otsu.

"H-hey, O-Otsu-chan," Kondo began the conversation.

"What's up, Kondo-san?" Otsu greeted him. She too, was blushing reciprocally.

"N-nothing, Otsu-chan, j-just w-wanted to know if you wanted to hang out some time this weekend, y-you know, to see a movie?"

"I'll get back to you on that, I have a choir concert to attend this weekend, so, um, I'll let you know later…" Otsu trailed off.

Shinpachi had seen enough, jealousy consumed his mind as he stormed off to his next class.

**Class 3Z: **

Shinpachi put his head on his desk, trying to hold back the tears that formed on the corners of his eyes. Why am I acting this way? There's nothing between them, even if there was, she would tell me whenever we text or call each other every day. Shinpachi thought to himself.

"Something on your mind, Shinpachi?" a voice popped into the classroom. Shinpachi looked up to see Ginpachi Sensei, the lethargic silver haired teacher that always had a lollipop in his mouth as he walked into the classroom.

"It's nothing, Ginpachi Sensei," Shinpachi answered softly.

"Nothing? Any reason why you're in my classroom during lunch break?" Ginpachi retorted as he gestured to all the empty desks in the room.

Shinpachi didn't answer to that. "Just personal issues, Ginpachi Sensei."

"Girl problems?" Ginpachi brought up.

"Yeah…" Shinpachi answered. He was caught off guard by how quickly Ginpachi was able to dissect the situation.

"How long have you liked her?"

"For as long as I can remember," Shinpachi responded.

"You should tell her how you feel," Ginpachi suggested. His voice was calming, soothing like the sound of ocean waves sliding against the sand on a beach.

"Huh? What? Why? Why would I ever do that? What if she doesn't love me?" Shinpachi snapped.

_Love? I only thought it was a crush, guess he's really serious about this girl_ Ginpachi thought to himself.

"So do you intend to never tell her your feelings for her?" Ginpachi answered. The rhetoric of Ginpachi made Shinpachi stop and rethink his position on the suggestion.

"Well, I plan to, later…" Shinpachi whispered to himself.

"I'd do it soon if I were you, what if she was to love another person? You telling her if that problem arises would conflict her mind and soul," Ginpachi brought up.

"You do have a good point," Shinpachi thought as he recalled the moment of Otsu and Kondo talking to each other earlier.

"Shinpachi, I'll just put one word of advice, and that is to tell her. Honestly, if you opt not to, five years from now, ten years from now, heck, even twenty years from now, wouldn't you want to have the courage to say that you confessed your love for the girl of your dreams and had no regrets? Wouldn't you rather have told her how you really felt rather than lock it up inside you for the rest of your life and let it eat you away what it could have been?" Ginpachi made his epic conclusion as he stood up and began writing the lesson on the chalkboard for the next class.

"You're right," Shinpachi said, a surge of confidence rushed through him. He got up from the seat, more motivated than ever before from the words of his teacher and walked towards the door.

**After School **

Shinpachi was following Otsu, who was walking alone, after school, without her knowledge. From an outsider's point of view, it looks like a creepy stalker following his prey, but to Shinpachi, it's a teenage boy with freshly picked flowers tucked beneath his coat, hiding behind every corner, hoping to tell the girl he loves how he truly feels.

_Why am I doing this? Me and Otsu are friends, we text and call each other frequently, so why am I acting all isolated from her? She never keeps secrets from me and neither me to her, so why can't I do this simple task? _

Shinpachi continued to follow Otsu, doing his best not to reveal himself, hiding amongst the shadows. A quick turn soon changed the atmosphere that embodied the situation. The two had entered the shady part of town, where Otsu lived.

_I still can't believe that Otsu lived in such a bad neighborhood _Shinpachi recalled the fact that Otsu was raised by a single mother whose husband was imprisoned for murder. That very Otsu would grow up to be a talented singer with the opportunity to go to a top tier college on a scholarship solely based on her talent.

_How can I ever compliment her? _Shinpachi continued to doubt himself. He pounded his head on the flowers that he held as he put his back away on a rusty, old, abandoned building that was once a warehouse, facing the opposite direction Otsu was heading, rusty rails protruding everywhere. He quickly slapped himself for almost destroying the nicely picked Orange Roses he bought at the flower shop. He stared at the Orange Roses, the centerpiece, a vibrant colored rose, had one of the petals damaged. He sighed as he realized the consequence of a rushed reaction.

"Where ya going, pretty girl?" Shinpachi heard a deep voice speak. He instantly turned around and peeked from his hiding spot and saw a gang of about five intimidating figures surrounding Otsu. Shinpachi saw as Otsu clutched her textbooks close to her chest, her arms crossed, shoulders faced towards each other and her head looking down. Fear had consumed her.

"I asked you a question, girl," one of the figures spoke, presumably the leader. He had blond hair, a cigarette in his mouth, and towered over Otsu.

"H-home," Otsu quivered in fear with her answer.

"Home? This place is pretty beat down, how 'bout you come over to my place? I gotta buncha cool stuff me and my boys here can show you," the leader spoke with a smile. Shinpachi saw that the thugs were all smiling and closing in on Otsu like hyenas circling their prey.

_Do something, _Shinpachi kept on thinking to himself. _Do something, this is your time, your defining moment, a chance to play hero and save Otsu, win her heart and this will all be over, we'll live happily ever after. _Shinpachi clutched the stems of the Orange Roses with all his might but he didn't have the courage to play hero.

"N-no, t-thank y-you," Shinpachi heard Otsu whisper softly in utmost fear.

Otsu, was there, alone, fighting against those thugs, with no one to help her. Shinpachi kept on repeating through his mind. I can be the hero, he kept telling himself, but his body froze, unmoving like a statue, to take action.

"You seem 'fraid, how 'bout me and my boys comfort you?" the leader spoke as he and his minions closed in on the prey.

Shinpachi watched them trap her, him unmoving to take action. In amazement, out of nowhere, the blond leader was pulled back away from Otsu, and dealt a furious punch with the right hand on his left cheek. The surprising counterattack sent the blond leader spinning onto the ground, pausing the motions of the horny thugs. Otsu, looked up, saw who had saved her from the initial assaulter. Her eyes lit up as she mouthed his name.

"Kondo."

"Tch," the blond leader wiped the corner of his mouth, blood had begun dripping from his lips.

"My, my, the great Kondo-san, great Captain of the Gintama High Baseball team, what brings you here to this shitty neighborhood?" the leader spoke.

"Yamazaki, why are you doing this?" Kondo said in despair, reaching out to Yamazaki like an old friend.

"First off, I go by the name of Jimmy now, and second, why the fuck do y'all care? Y'all went and kicked me off the Baseball team," Yamazaki snapped back at Kondo.

"You were caught doing drugs in school, nothing I could've done," Kondo replied, trying to show some empathy.

"Fuck off, and why you here anyways?" Jimmy seemed quite puzzled by the fact that Kondo would suddenly show up at a time like this. He got up and saw Otsu looking at Kondo very intimately, like a hero.

"Ho, ho, so you got yo eyes on this girl? Kondo-san?" Jimmy put his hand behind the terrified Otsu, then he pushed her onto the ground.

"Otsu!" Kondo yelled in worry as he tried to hop over to tend to Otsu but he was cut off by the other four goons of Jimmy.

"Whaddaya think you're doing, Kondo-san? Saving her? Nah, ain't happening. Me and my boys are gonna enjoy doing a whole lot of stuff to her, and we gonna make you watch," Jimmy laughed.

"I'm not going to let you," Kondo gritted his teeth.

"You? There's five of us, and one of you, we finish you off so quickly," Jimmy laughed even louder now.

"I'll make you eat those words, Yamazaki," Kondo smiled.

Jimmy frowned and gestured to his goons as they prepared to assault Kondo. Shinpachi and Otsu both prepared for the worst to happen to him, but they all never saw it coming. Out of nowhere, two figures came and took out the four goons with relative ease. The other two star baseball players of Gintama High, Okita Sougo and Toshirou Hijikata.

"Heard you were in a pickle, Kondo-san," Sougo joked. **

"You bastards!" Jimmy yelled in fury. He was quickly greeted with a fist by Kondo, sending him flying. Shinpachi watched as Jimmy and his goons retreated with swiftness; Shinpachi hid himself behind some dirty trashcans as they made their retreat.

Soon they disappeared and Shinpachi emerged from his hiding spot and watched the ensuing events transpire for Otsu. Kondo helped Otsu up from the ground.

"Um, Kondo-san, I gotta date with a cute China girl, see you in a bit," Sougo came with an excuse as he turned and sprinted away.

"Kondo-san," Hijikata spoke this time.

"What is it, Hijikata?"

"I have a Mayo brand that I want to go buy," Hijikata answered as he too turned and left.

Those bastards, they were supposed to be my wingmen for Otsu, Kondo thought to himself.

And that left Otsu and Kondo together, alone, with Shinpachi as an onlooker looking from the outside looking in.

"T-thanks for saving me, Kondo," Otsu thanked him. She was blushing as the two inched closer together, trying to avoid eye contact with him.

"It's really no big deal, Otsu," Kondo smiled.

Then there was a pause, a moment of awkward silence as the two tried to figure out how to finish the conversation.

"A-about that movie, Kondo, this weekend, I think I have time to go see it with you," Otsu brought up.

"R-really?!" Kondo exclaimed in excitement. _Wow! I was just about to ask her about that _

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it," Otsu replied happily.

"That's awesome!" Kondo leaped in joy.

The rest of the conversation didn't matter to Shinpachi, the two walking away holding hands, bodies close, all blocked out as he refused to believe what had happened. Kondo pulled off the ultimate knight in shining armor moment, winning the princess's heart with his stunning heroic actions.

Shinpachi couldn't believe it, the events that transpired within the previous fifteen minutes seemed surreal to him, unfathomable. He crouched down into a corner, tears began rolling down his eyes. He punched the ground in frustration and swore. He looked at the Orange Roses he held in his hand and threw it onto the ground in anger. Crouching, Shinpachi put his head over his arms and cried.

Another fifteen minutes or so passed, Shinpachi heard voices, loud voices, from the streets. Looking up from where he crouched, his eyes widened as he saw Jimmy and his gang, beaten and bruised, holding baseball bats.

"Imma gonna kill that fucker Kondo and his bitch too," Jimmy muttered to his goons. They all nodded in agreement.

_What? Kondo and Otsu won't stand a chance against them! They are all unprepared for an onslaught by these thugs. I must act! _Shinpachi thought to himself. This time he put his words into action.

He instantly got up from his crouching spot and jumped at Jimmy. Catching everyone by surprise, Shinpachi ended up tackling Jimmy. A problem now arose, Shinpachi didn't plan for what to do after tackling Jimmy. Acting brashly out of love can have its consequences.

"Get the fuck off of me!" Jimmy pushed Shinpachi off of him, sending the four eyed teenager crashing onto the ground.

"The hell a nerd like you doing here?" Jimmy got up and approached Shinpachi.

"I'm here to stop you from hurting Otsu!" Shinpachi answered as he got up and lunged at Jimmy. He was quickly greeted with a hard push back onto the ground.

"Otsu? That purple haired girl with Kondo? Don't matter now, him and her both dead meat. But Imma kick your ass first, get them juices flowing," Jimmy gave a grin.

For the next ten minutes, Shinpachi was mercilessly beaten by Jimmy and his goons. The blows and kicks pounded onto Shinpachi, leaving him short of breath and bleeding. Down on the ground, head against the wall

Finishing up, Jimmy and his goons walked away, prepping for the beat down of Kondo. They, did not anticipate the willpower of Shinpachi, to stand up and defy them.

"I won't let you hurt them," Shinpachi told them. His body shook, his legs weak, but he stood, for the sake of Otsu.

"Playing tough guy, are ya?" Jimmy smirked. He landed another punch on Shinpachi, sending him crashing onto the ground again.

"That'll teach ya a lesson to never fuck with me," Jimmy answered.

Shinpachi was now defeated for the umpteenth time, back against the wall, shaken and deterred.

"I…I won't…let you…hurt…them," Shinpachi spoke with his breath. His breathing was heavy now, his head was spinning, and he couldn't move any parts of his body.

"Fucker, don't toy with me!" Jimmy got angry and unleashed a furious roundhouse kick onto the face of Shinpachi. It was a powerful kick, breaking Shinpachi's glasses, fracturing his nose and a possible concussion while causing Shinpachi to whip his head backwards and collide with the hard wall.

In reality, Shinpachi didn't feel anything, just the initial brute force of the kick, and his head snapping back and hitting the wall, and upon hitting the wall, he felt the back of his head make impact with a protruded object, causing a stingy sensation that made his body shiver.

"B-boss…" One of the goons spoke up.

"I think you may have gone overboard…" he continued.

"Whaddaya mean?" Jimmy snapped at his goon.

"His head hit one of them nails on the wall, and he ain't moving…" the goon answered in fear.

"S-shit…!" Jimmy recoiled in fear.

"Let's get the fuck outta here!" Jimmy yelled as he and his goons took off, leaving Shinpachi alone as rain began to fall from the sky.

**Three Hours Earlier **

Kirara sat in the bed in her room, fussing over the day's events, her lack of courage to tell Shinpachi, all this caused her to punch her pillow in frustration.

"What's the matter, sis?" a voice popped up into her room. A red headed girl strolled in leisurely and sat next to Kirara, her sister, Urara.

"Nothing, really," Kirara answered back, her voice soft.

"Boy problems?" Urara responded.

"How did you know?" Kirara recoiled in shock.

"It isn't that hard to figure out, since you talk about that Shinpachi all the time!" Urara joked.

"You really are my sister," Kirara smiled.

"Anyways, if I were you, I would make the first move, even though it should be the guys that do it, I'd make an exception just this once," Urara told Kirara as she gave her a wink.

"I'm kind of nervous and scared of the outcome though," Kirara was scared of the thought now.

"You really like this guy, right?" Urara returned with a bold question.

Kirara paused for a second, the sudden question threw her off. Then she nodded her head.

"Then you should tell him! If he's a great as a guy as you say he is, I'm sure he'll be cool with it," Urara made her closing advice.

Kirara clenched her fist in determination, Yes, she thought, Shinpachi taught me to be strong and never be afraid to face my fears, now I'm going to show it to him!

**Three Hours Later (Present Time)**

Shinpachi sat there, motionless, letting the rain pour onto his head and all over his body. He was still conscious, fighting passing out, for he knew, if he did, he'd surely die.

Darn, why must I always get into these situations? Shinpachi questioned himself. No one was going to find him with this storm brewing, beaten and bleeding. He was then startled by a vibration in his pocket, his phone, he had received a text message.

Shinpachi squirmed and used the remaining energy he had to pull the phone out of his pocket. He read the message:

"Hey Shinpachi! I've got so much to tell you! So much stuff happened today! I think I'm in love, with the captain of our school's baseball team, Isao Kondo, you know him? Haha. I know you have a smirk on your face LOL but we're gonna go on a date this weekend, watching a movie or something! Anyways, he saved me from a bunch of troublemakers after school today, it'd been bad if he wasn't there, yeah… So… I'm so happy right now my body won't stop jittering! I'll call you later tonight!"

Shinpachi confirmed that it was Otsu who sent that message. He couldn't help but smile as he put the phone back onto the ground as his head began to spin. His final moments is near, he could tell as he reached to feel the wound on the back of his head, his eyes registered an enormous amount of blood.

"I'm gonna die soon but Otsu, I have a few words for you before I kick the bucket," Shinpachi thought to himself, he'll confess in his mind now, the last thing he'll do.

"Oh, Otsu-chan, I'm so happy for you. You found a person that loves you as much you love them, do I know him? Yeah, indirectly, from my sister Tae, she and Hijikata had been on and off for a while now. As for that smirk, I have the biggest grin right now, seeing Otsu finally grow up and blossom into a beautiful woman. I wish I could see both of yours marriage, be the godfather of your children, nah, I'm thinking too far ahead. But seriously, for the heroic antics of Kondo, I saw it all, and I know he'll be a good man. I really, really, wished that I could have been the one instead of Kondo, but as fate would have it, it won't be me."

Shinpachi paused for a moment.

"But anyways, Otsu, I really loved you, you were always the one to guide me through the darkness, your music and your smile were the reasons why I could fight through the pain and enjoy the wonders of life. I wish I could see them more as you become a more and more beautiful person."

"Otsu, I love you."

Shinpachi finished his confession, he looked into the sky, the storm was letting up, and a small ray of sunlight shined in front of him. Shinpachi felt something pushing on his forehead, his head wavered a little and then he coughed out blood. His phone vibrated a few more times, indicating that he had received more messages, but he ignored them, he had passed away.

His phone had received a grand total of two messages, both from Kirara.

"Hey Shinpachi! I finally have the guts to tell you something that I've hidden from you for a long time, funny that I chose to send it over text message rather than talk to you in real life, but I think it's more fitting this way since we wrote to each other a lot when we were pen pals in 5th grade. But this is something that I wanted to tell you for a long time, hidden and concealed within my heart and locked up within my feelings, a message and simple sentence that I wanted to sing to you, yell to you, tell you, whisper to you, a very simple message. And after all these years I will finally tell you…"

[End of First Message]

[Start of Second Message]

"Shinpachi, I love you."

Kirara watched as the words SENT appeared on the screen on her phone as two of the most important messages she has ever sent in her life had been received by her love. She waited by her bed, she somehow felt relieved, getting this off her chest, but she was happy, and waited for Shinpachi to respond. He always replies, every time, whether it be an online chat message, a regular text message or even the letters they exchanged when they were younger, he would always reply.

Shinpachi never replied.

**End**

** **The term, "in a pickle" is a baseball term, referring to a base runner that is trapped and trying to get to the next base. Sougo was referring to the situation where Kondo was trying to save Kondo and win her love (getting to the next base) but was in a pickle because he encountered Yamazaki and his goons. (Sorry for explaining so much) **

**Author's Note: This is how I intended to end it, please do not hate me for how the events unfold. Hope you enjoyed the story. **


End file.
